1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly for protecting the privacy of a nursing mother and, more specifically, to an occupant supporting device including a privacy screen that selectively extends across the torso of a nursing
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Typically, the physical setting of many Neonatal Intensive Care Units is uninviting and uncomfortable for new mothers. Inadequate seating accommodations will also shorten a mother's visit to a baby's bedside. When mothers are denied adequate involvement in their baby's care during a critical biological window in the early post-delivery time period, strong and healthy emotional bonding with their newborns is compromised. Consequently, while modern medicine saves ever-greater numbers of premature and/or ill newborns, too many of these infants leave the hospital as emotional orphans.
One solution lies in making this environment more comfortable for new mothers so they can play a key role in their baby's care, including situations wherein the mother has experienced complications limiting her mobility. Introducing a chair, bed or other wheeled vehicle tailored to a woman's postpartum needs and designed for maximum mother-baby physical and emotional contact shortly after delivery would enhance that goal. Increased inclusion of parents in the care of a newborn baby functions to speed the baby's physical recovery and enhances the forging of loving bonds between parents and baby.
In addition, many nursing mothers face challenges when they have visitors both in the home and in the hospital. Attempts have been made to develop a privacy cover for nursing mothers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,960 discloses a fabric cover that can be used by a nursing mother to drape over her baby to provide privacy for the mother and the baby during nursing periods. The nursing cover of the '960 patent includes a front portion for draping over a baby and the front of a nursing mother and a rear portion for draping over the shoulder and down the mother's back. Although the cover provides some privacy for a nursing mother, the cover of the '960 patent is rather tight to the body and requires a somewhat revealing, meshed section to avoid smothering. Therefore, the cover limits the mobility of both the mother and baby, which itself can be unsettling. In any event, the cover is not adapted to be readily attached to a chair or hospital bed to provide a comfortable, private environment in the hospital or home.
These conditions create the need for a privacy assembly that can be attached to and used in combination with an occupant supporting device, such as a wheeled chair or bed, in a nursery or hospital setting. A privacy screen assembly attached to a mobile chair or bed would allow a new mother to nurse her baby privately and facilitate the bonding of mother and baby during the critical in-hospital period.